Queen Glaciana Frostborne Alpineglow's Arc

Chapter 16 of 33

The Snowheart beat in the open air, blue and slow. Glaciana held Victor against her side. His weight dragged on her arm. His face had gone grey, and his breath came shallow. Only she could break the crystal, but her hands were full holding up the man who had spent his strength to bring her this far. She could not do both. "Kira," she said. "I need you." Her best friend was already moving. Kira Snowmane crossed the chamber in two low leaps, her spotted tail slicing the air. She had saved Glaciana once, on her knees in the snow, pulling poison from her leg. She wore that same fierce look now. She slid under Victor's arm and took his weight from the queen's shoulder. "I've got him," Kira said. Her voice stayed light, but her grip was iron. "Go break the ugly thing. We didn't climb a whole mountain for you to stand here holding your husband." Victor tried to straighten. "I can stand." "You can lean," Kira said, and held him firmly. Glaciana stepped free. Her arm felt strange without his weight. She flexed her fingers. The strength Victor had given her still burned low in her chest, but it was fading. She had one chance before it drained out of her. She raised both hands toward the beating crystal. Frosty hovered near it, wings trembling, saying nothing now. Glaciana aimed at the single point Kira had taught her to find, the heart of the knot. She pushed. The crystal fought her. Cold rushed back up her arms, trying to drain her the way the ice wall once had. Her knees buckled. Behind her she heard Kira's voice. "Don't you dare fall. Yuki would never let me hear the end of it." Glaciana set her teeth and pushed harder. A crack split the Snowheart down its center. The blue light flared white. Then the crystal shattered. Shards burst outward and rang across the stone floor, then went dark. Silence. The pulse was gone. Glaciana stood swaying but upright. From somewhere deep in the mountain came a low groan, like a great rope pulling loose. Water began to drip from the walls. Real water, not ice. The cold in the chamber broke and turned soft. "It's melting," Kira whispered. "Glaciana. Three years. It's melting." Glaciana turned. Relief filled her, then stopped cold. Victor had slid from Kira's arms to the floor. His eyes were closed. Kira knelt over him, hands on his chest, her playful face gone hard with fear. "He's breathing," Kira said. "Barely. Glaciana, he won't wake." The curse was broken. Her kingdom would thaw. But the man she had crossed a mountain to save lay still on the wet stone, and she did not know how to bring him back.